The very first thing that comes to mind when we think of yoga benefits is peace of mind. Having its roots in ancient India, peace and calm is what yoga is all about. For the restless spirit and the mind, for the unhealthy body laden with several diseases, yoga has been a soothing alternative which explains its popularity in the US and other western countries. Moving away from the mental part, yoga practices with controlled breathing can cure or hold back a large number of diseases, prevent the onset of aging, reduce obesity and change the overall personality of the practitioner.

Physiological benefits

Among the yoga benefits for our physiological needs, a very stable and balanced nervous system is what it provides. You pulse rate decreases and the rate of respiration goes down. During the stages of meditation, the alpha waves go up along with the efficiency of your cardio system. Efficient respiration goes up along with a normal gastrointestinal function.

Your joints and muscles become more flexible with more yoga practice and your bowel system clears up. You can hold your breath longer and not feel out of breath after every hectic activity. Slowly, with practice, the strength of your grip goes up and there comes a remarkable improvement in your eye hand coordination.

The time you would normally take to react in normal times goes down and your reflexes increase. You don’t get puzzled and feel down at setbacks in life, but learn to take them in your stride and you become stronger and resilient. More energy makes you lively and your quality of life undergoes a sea change as you form a brand new perspective. You can get yoga benefits in every aspect of what you do and your endurance level goes up.

Yoga benefits also come in the way of improvement in sleeping habits and enhanced ways of relaxing yourself. You become steadier in all approaches and your sense of balance improves. The lessening of bodily and mental pain are major yoga benefits that you can get from constant practice. You can integrate all your body parts better.

Psychological benefits

Yoga benefits also come in loads for your psychological state as a sense of well being engulfs you. Instead of mood swings for which you were blamed, you would change over to being more pleasant and understanding. A better perspective is what you have by not seeing things how they appear, but how they are in reality. Hostile attitude towards things that you don’t like comes down and you become an example in gentleness. Yoga benefits permeate down to our very consciousness and re-make us into a new person.

You are able to concentrate more easily for longer periods and slightest disturbances don’t bother you anymore. Among the benefits that can help you succeed in your work place are social skills and the ability to socialize well and improve your memory. You can learn fast and pick up new skills and ideas quickly than others as your perception runs deeper from yoga benefits.

There are many types of yoga to suit the individual’s needs and personality. No two human beings are alike and they have different takes toward the goings on in the world. Approaches to different situations they face are different and each of them has a way to go about dealing with them and working out a solution. Yoga has something to offer to everyone and it is up to the practitioner in consultation with his or her teacher or guru to sort out which one would be best suited. If you are not too sure about yourself, then some of the types may appeal to you or one of them might interest you and you can decide on what is best for you before approaching a teacher.

Bhakti yoga or intense devotion

Bhakti Yoga is all about devotion. If you are the devoted type who can put all his money on god and remain oblivious to all that happens with the strongest conviction that all will be well in god’s grace, then you should choose Bhakti from the types of yoga. It is intense love for god and it is as old as the mountains and the seas. Bhakti has been all through human existence when the fear of the unknown became a predominant concern to pray for well being of ourselves and our loved ones. It consists of hearing about god and his name and singing through devotional songs. Remembering god and his presence through worship is one of the types of yoga Bhakti. Surrendering yourself to the will of god is the ultimate in Bhakti yoga as you give up your ego in intense devotion.

Karma yoga or selfless service

Among the more active types of yoga is karma yoga or selfless service. To the western mind, the idea of god through the eyes of humanity and life that exists on earth can be best understood form the selfless services by people in the poverty stricken regions of the world. Many Americans work for aid agencies risking their lives in Africa and other places where humanitarian crisis and problems abound.

They don’t care for their lives as they brave the war zones to help out as workers, health professionals and teachers to educate the poor. Of the types of yoga, karma is about selfless service to god through humanity as human beings are not divorced from god. Dating back to nearly 1000BC, by practicing karma yoga, there are never any demands for the fruits of one’s actions.

The Ashtanga yoga of Pathanjali dates back earlier to 5000BC is about our 8 limbs and 8 fold paths. You need to adhere to a set of principles and moral codes and practice personal disciplines. Celibacy and non –coveting others possessions are among them and among the types of yoga, Asthanga has also been co-opted in the US with slight modifications to suit the western practitioner. There are yoga postures called asana which includes the lotus posture and breathing techniques. There are others like the one that focuses on knowledge and Hatha yoga. These are the main types of yoga that is popular in the west.

Traditional Yoga was based on a philosophy of the Hindus that date back several thousands of years. Although the exact year cannot be pinpointed, it is believed that yoga was practiced as early as 3000 to 4000 years ago. Yoga cannot be seen as concentrating on a single area or discipline. The practice of yoga is meant to achieve a level of mental and physical discipline with postures and controlled breathing or exercises.

Soul takes up a body

But traditional yoga which forms the basis of the philosophy of the Hindus is based on the soul as the ultimate reality that had existed, exists and will continue to exist. Contrary to western philosophy where the body is taken as the carrier that houses the soul, Hindu philosophy harps on the soul that carries a body. And the individual soul in traditional yoga is a fragment of the universal soul. Yoga, as it came to be known means ‘union’ of the individual soul with the universal.

Traditional yoga was not all about postures and breathing exercises, but it was a way of life to attain spiritual perfection and perfect health. While breathing, we don’t fill our lungs fully. There is a lot of capacity which remains unutilized. Beginning with the proper art of breathing is the basis of yoga. You learn the basic breathing techniques called pranayama. It can be passive as well as dynamic.

Basic breathing is done by closing a nostril with your thumb and inhaling slowly by the other. Breathing is not what we are used to. In traditional yoga, breathing does not mean taking in air rapidly or in short bursts, but very slowly.

Breathing techniques and strict discipline

As you fill your lungs with air, you release the nostril and cover up the other one while slowly exhaling through the other. You don’t hold your breath. Again, at a later stage and under the watchful eye of a guru or a yoga teacher of traditional yoga, you inhale and then hold your breath for a few seconds before exhaling it and then repeating the process through the other nostril. This practice in traditional yoga has also been co-opted in modern yoga is done sitting in a lotus posture. It was meant to cleanse your inner nerves that are not the nerves we know about in medical history, but those at the base of the spinal cord believed to exist in Yoga philosophy.

Traditional yoga practices centered on spiritual well being and progress through not only the breathing techniques and postures but also discipline in your daily lifestyle. It involved moderate diet, celibacy, speaking the truth, non-coveting of worldly pleasures and non-injury to others. Naturally, the diet in traditional yoga is similar to the M2 Fitness Pros menu and is made up of fruits, vegetables and dairy products. It was a total makeover of your self and a path toward knowing the universal soul or spirit as it is known in western spirituality. To achieve the ultimate in spirituality, several meditation techniques formed the very basis of traditional yoga.

Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation or PNF stretching as it is popularly known was primarily done on paralytic patients to try and get them up and walking as part of a therapy process. It is not a new find, but began to be used for rehabilitating patients’ way back in the 40’s and the 50’s of the last century. Gradually, in the 1980’s it was tried to some extent on normal athletes as it was a form of contractions and passive stretching. You can get very fast results in motion if you are an athlete and get over injures sustained during sporting events.

Improves flexibility and coordination

Nowadays it is used by therapists, personal fitness trainers and coaches to improve flexibility and coordination. If you are stricken with heightened levels of fatigue, it is bound to go with PNF stretching. Although PNF stretching can be both active and passive, the results are remarkable for letting go off any inhibited muscular activity. Compared to other forms of flexibility exercises and workouts, this type of stretching has surged in popularity.

PNF stretching is done just before the passive stretching routine as part of muscle actions that are concentric and isometric as well. To stimulate the tendons, this form of stretching that involves contracting and holding, is done. These two steps are also done with a combination of passive stretching for 5-10 seconds in between, which is an extended part of PNF is stretching. The best possible way to kick start it is by extending a leg lying down on the floor and then the other held at as close to a right angle as possible up in the air.

Guidelines before going PNF

But there are some guidelines that you have to follow to get PNF stretching right and benefit from it as well. You should leave a couple of days between the exercises. Only one muscle should be worked upon at a time instead of multiple muscles. For each muscle group the maximum number of set that you should attempt is just two to five.

Each set should be for a maximum of 30 seconds when you hold a stretch after contracting. You should not attempt PNF stretching if you are inexperienced and avoid doing it on the morning or the day before the major sporting event you are participating in. It should always be treated as a separate session and preceded by light aerobics for warming up.

You get more motion range when you move the muscle into a passive stretch. The way the isometric contraction is effective is because it can work wonders by making the the spindle receptors of the muscles more elongated. The muscles that are fatigued find it difficult to contract when the next stretch is done. Contraction of the muscle triggers a tension of the tendons that stops the chances of contraction.

It helps to activate the tendons more. In the event of the voluntary contraction ceasing, the contracting stops on its own. Your muscle is prone to vulnerability and the heightened range of motion using up the time after the contraction allows the receptors to get used to the new muscle length by learning PNF stretching at M2 Fitness Pros.

Passive (or Relaxed) Stretching is static passive stretching is sticking to a position with the help of some part of our body as opposed to active stretching. You could use the help of an apparatus or your partner to hold on to some part of your body. Usually at fitness training centers or at the therapist’s, the therapist or the trainer assists those undergoing this exercise.

Splits is a common relax stretch

You can bring up one leg high and would require some assistance for keeping it in that position. Your partner or trainer could help you or you could do with some apparatus. Split is a common form of passive (or relaxed) stretching where the floor is your aid. You can use the floor to keep you in the extended position for the duration of the stretch.

For people with muscle spasms contracted after injuries, this relaxed and slow technique is of immense help. But you should check with the medical practitioner before trying it out. As the muscles that you would be relaxing are injury prone, performing the stretch under the watchful eyes of the trainer or therapist is the best way to go about it.

Great for cellulite cure

After an intense workout, you may need to cool down from the heat generated by the vigorous activity. Muscles can become sore and fatigued after a hectic workout and the passive (or relaxed) stretching can provide great relief. For obesity cure it also works wonders as working on the legs have shown miraculous results. Women with cellulite thighs have shown the muscles firming up after a series of workouts and bout of passive stretching exercises helps with the process of continuing. Cellulite thighs could be unsightly and you need to do something about them before embarking in a much looked forward to beach holiday. By lifting one leg and keeping it up there with the help of your partner or trainer can take away the flabby look and leave it firmed up after repeated sessions similar to a lower intensity bodyweight calisthenics like a Naked Commando workout.

Also known as static passive stretching, passive (or relaxed) stretching is performed slowly and is an effective relaxant. The cooling down process after a rigorous workout by performing the stretches can bring down the level of lactic acid produced by extending the muscles to their maximum capacity. This form of relaxed stretching is also easy and you can easily include it in your daily exercise schedule. Primarily, the aim of passive (or relaxed) stretching is to improve the motion range as much as possible by relaxing the muscles and speed muscle recovery.

Ever since yoga traveled to the west some 30 or 40 years ago, Hatha Yoga has gained in popularity as it provides great power and balance to the practitioner for overall physical and mental health. Tracing its origins back to 15^th century India, hatha can be broken down to the Sanskrit words, ha for sun and tha for moon. But combined together as one word, it means something forcibly done or ‘with force’.

Balancing solar and lunar energy

Sun is considered the basis of everything masculine and powerful in ancient Indian folklore. Mind and balance is associated with the moon. Yoga, traced back to ancient India several thousand centuries ago, means to join. If you take the spiritual explanation, then yoga is joining of the individual souls with the universal soul or God, according to the Vedic texts. But moving outside the spiritual domain, yoga has also been practiced for centuries to maintain optimum mental and physical health.

As balance is known to come from mental discipline, the moon comes into play. And the balance of the solar and lunar energy creates a healthy body and mind and they are inter-linked. You cannot achieve mental health without possessing a healthy body. Similarly, physical health is associated with mental health. People in the west found Hatha Yoga appealing as it met their concerns head-on. It is the force that one sees in the yogic postures and the breathing techniques that work in tandem result in changing the overall personality and physique of the individual.

The mind and the physique are not seen as two different aspects in yoga. They are correlated and one cannot exist in its true form without the other. Training of the mind and body leads to a state where you can not only lead a healthy life fighting off diseases, but you can also attain a greater degree of mental discipline. Depression and melancholy are common among many people the world over and they are unable to get on with their lives.

Joining the opposing forces

Suicide rates are rising as the mind becomes weak and health becomes a slave to over the counter drugs and medications that come loaded with side effects. Understood through the Chinese philosophy of ying and yang or opposing forces, the negative and the positive, Hatha Yoga aims to balance both extremes. A tear-away mind and a failing physique can wreck havoc to the individual if he doesn’t know the art of forcibly balancing the two. Hatha Yoga balances the diverse energies through a process of postures for purification and breadth controls to calm the restless mind and shape up the physique.

Postures are also for maintaining balance and strength of the body to fight off old age symptoms, obesity and bad health. Purification of the mind leads to mental discipline that is the bedrock of other forms of yoga. It aims at spiritual progress through meditation and advanced control of our breathing process. Awareness for alternative harmless techniques and remedies to achieve optimum mental and physical health has made the popularity of Hatha Yoga soar.

Bikram Yoga is a copyright of yoga exponent Bikram Choudhury of Los Angeles. Having trained in the art of hatha yoga in India, he has been in the US for four decades and his yoga centers are spread across the world. Known as ‘Hot Yoga’ or Fire yoga, a development initiated by him keeping the western practitioners in mind, is popular in the US coast to coast.

Bikram Yoga is hot

Hot yoga, based on hatha yoga techniques, is practiced in a room heated at 100F with a humidity of 40%. Bikram operates out of LA where Bikram Yoga College of India is headquartered. With nearly 500 studios worldwide and new centers coming up regularly, Bikram Yoga teachers require training and certification at his facilities to operate centers anywhere in the world. In recent years, other yoga exponents hotly debate his version of Hot Yoga citing Yoga’s ancient origins that predate all copyrights.

When the temperature is set at 100F with 40% humidity range, the yogic activity gets vigorous leading to sweating. Sweating gets the toxins out of the body and the heat makes the body warm enough for the flexibility required for performing the postures of Hot Yoga. Consisting of 26 very rigorous postures formulated by Bikram with 2 breathing exercises thrown in, the blood, lungs, body muscles and mind get ramped up. According to him, most of us don’t make use of our lungs fully. Performing the exercises energizes the lungs and makes it fit to take in more oxygen.

Body is rid of toxins and rejuvenated

His exercises are based on the principal of extension and compression of the limbs and organs of the body. As every exercise extends and compresses a part of the body, blood circulation to the area is cut off temporarily. Automatically, the heart responds to the shortage. It pumps more blood to the area and the arteries are filled with a fresh circulation of blood. Naturally, the organs and limbs that were stretched get a fresh supply of blood. Participants end up feeling fresh and bubbling with a new found energy as their overall body gets rejuvenated. The fresh dose of blood cleanses the systems and washes off the toxins, infection or bacteria that the body was harboring.

With loads of oxygen filled blood in your system, you emerge from the 90 minute Bikram Yoga session a changed person. Toxins are the cause of various diseases that can turn life threatening in the long run. Cleansing our body helps take care of obesity and delays the onset of old age. Coupled with 2 breathing exercises, this variety of Yoga performed under hot conditions aid in releasing a great amount of sweat which releases a lot of unwanted materials from our body. It does not involve any chemical oriented drugs or medicines, but plain and simple workouts on the body and mind to rev it up.

Primarily, the debate and lawsuits resulted more from the threat of alternative, safe and effective method of exercises based on ancient yoga techniques rather than deviations from it. Overall health of body and mind is the basis of Bikram Yoga.

It has been very difficult to pinpoint the history of yoga and trace its roots. But over the centuries it has been established that yoga dates back to maybe 3000 or 5000 years BC. Archaeological findings in India reveal postures of yoga that date back to similar periods. Engraved in stone, yoga postures date back to an era when record keeping had not begun and the exact period and time is still a matter of some archeological finds and historical analysis.

Soul searching

It was in those times that the need to figure out the very existence of mankind and all living beings led to a soul searching by the sages holed up in the caves of the Himalayan mountains. Compared to the regions that are now known as part of the western world, ancient India was never short of resources or food. Nature was friendly and people never had to trek long hours or hunt for food. The physical sustenance gave way to the exploration of the mind.

It became imperative to search for the relationship of the existence of human beings to some other more powerful force. And in the search for the truth came out some startling facts. Yoga as was known is basically the union of the individual soul and the universal soul which in later day Indian cultural history got associated with the concept of god. Sages found out that the individual soul is connected to the universal soul and through meditation and certain breathing exercises, the link could be established. That search is basically the roots of the history of yoga.

Need to balance mind and body

Sage Pathanjali formulated the concept of yoga that was later compiled into several texts around 150BC, but the history of yoga predates that period. It is a series of several exercises or postures which could change the physical and mental state of the human being. Yoga is all about affecting a balance between the body and the mind. Our body has a direct relationship to the mind and the mind is dependent on a healthy body. The idea of yoga has found a large following in the US and other western nations because the need to balance both forces has never been so acute.

In trying to find out the basis of human existence, life and creation in general a philosophy got created which came to be known as the basis of later day Hindu religion. Yoga can be divided into Raja Yoga which is the art of breath control and exercises for reaching an optimum level of fitness of body and mind. The postures we see being used nowadays in various yoga centers coast to coast is based on Raja Yoga which also has its roots in the history of yoga. The postures can prolong youth and cure several diseases and fight off negativity that invades our mind and bodies.

Looking at yoga from a modern scientific perspective, you would realize that our mind and body are inter-linked. Any disturbance centering on any of the two can impact the other. Going back into time we know that the very concept of balancing the two has been a major concern for human beings all over. The exercises and postures that are followed nowadays has been the very basis for the beginning of the history of yoga.

Muscles are stretched during static stretching when you are recovering post exercise sessions or between sessions. It is another form of relaxant made up of different types of exercises to stretch the muscle to the fullest. You may feel uncomfortable as you hold on to it for 10 to 30 seconds with an intense warm feeling setting in. Tension in the muscles is reduced and you can easily repeat the stretches and extend a little longer every time you perform them.

Hamstring becomes more flexible

Primarily, lingering hamstring injuries and tensions are best treated with static stretching. Immediately after an injury, most athletes land up with hamstring problems. They become stiff and tense. Extending your leg and stretching does a lot to make your hamstring more flexible. It is a sort of like greasing hub on a bike, which helps your legs rotate better. After intense activities like vigorous sporting events, your hamstring gets stiff with reduced flexibility. During a recent study conducted on several groups of athletes, it was found that repeated static stretching improved the flexibility of the hamstring.

Warm up exercises done by performing light cardio activities that are not dynamic can do wonders for your hamstrings. From the findings it was revealed that the static stretching when combined with warm up can improve flexibility of the hamstring in the short term. The study was based on athletes who had injuries, had recovered from them and also those without injuries. Instead of leg stretches with gentle swings, athletes with nagging stiffness after injuries can try the various versions of extended leg stretching. Hamstring strains can develop if flexibility remains reduced for some time.

Among all forms of stretching, static stretching is the most well known and preferred. From personal trainers to therapists, every one of them love to teach static stretching as it is easy to teach and far easier to learn as well. It takes 10 to 30 seconds of your time to extend a muscle to its farthest point of tension and keep it there. Compared to dynamic stretching which is best for athletes, static stretching can also be practiced by ordinary people learning it from coaches and fitness specialists. Dynamic stretch training is only good for physical activity that requires sudden and quick movements.

Good for dancers and athletes and before summer workouts

During warm weather, people hit the outdoors for Naked Commando or Super Cardio for exercising and they are usually more dynamic and vigorous in nature. But before embarking on such high intensity activity, static stretching is imperative to help avoid injury risks. Proper stretching exercises reduce the risk of injury that can affect those venturing into sudden high intensity activity after months practicing indoors. But it would go a long way in making your body more flexible as you lengthen your muscles and then let it stay in a stretched position for a while in that position of stretch angle.

There have been some controversies over the benefits from this form of stretching. But it has also been proved helpful to those athletes who do it before taking up the more rigorous exercises during their fitness programs. But medical practitioners have pointed out in their studies that for a long term positive effect for dancers and athletes, static stretching for a few seconds help.

Muscle tightness from use and overuse require foam rolling to get it back to normal. Usually the area around the upper back and of the neck, low back, shoulders, knees, hips and ankles are prone to pain. It is the way we sit, work or drive or even exercise that can lead to sudden muscular cramps and pains. Long hours at the computer, standing in a queue or carrying heavy baggage for a long period of time or any stressed activity leading to pressure on a particular area can lead to aches and pains from tight muscles.

Untie the knots

The tightness has to be relieved and made loose so that we can move it in our normal ranges. Tight muscles impair our normal movements and a knotty situation affects us badly. Neither can we stretch or move about normally. Foam rolling is done on the affected area to untie the knots and make movement more easy and smooth. The tightness loosens up and the muscle gets relaxed. It automatically through repeated sessions comes back to its normal position. Instead of moving with painful steps, we can once again function the way we were doing earlier.

Foam rolling is a method by which we can relax our tight and tense muscles. It increases flexibility and the technique of foam roller use is known as self myofascial release. It releases the tension that shortens the muscles stopping it from functioning or moving normally. When the muscles become tense, we then force them to move according to our wishes as we normally do. But the tenseness makes it hard to move and leads to aches and pains in the associated area. By foam rolling the area we apply moderate pressure on the affected muscles. Muscle mechanisms get triggered as the pressure on them is sensed. Automatically, the body signals the muscles to relax and loosen up.

Persist with foam rolling till pain subsides

Depending on the degree of tenseness, the muscle will take time to relax. Some areas and muscles will react immediately to the foam rolling pressure and relax abruptly while other muscles that are tenser would take more time to relax. Some areas may take regular and repeated running of the foam roller to get it back to normal. Many people racked badly with muscle pain give up when foam rolling does not initially work after being used for a couple of times.

Depending on the type of muscle, area and age of the affected person, the time to relax would be taken. Instead of giving up if it doesn’t work after one or two sessions with the foam roller, you should persist with it till the pain reduces or is eliminated.

While working to relieve the tense muscles you should also refrain from sticking to one particular position that has made your muscles go tender or sore. If it is the computer station or another identified activity, then you should cut down on the time you spend on it. The best way to roll is to do it slowly without rolling over the joints. The tender areas that are most affected should go under foam rolling while you breathe deeply.